Mounting Block issues

khalino

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Hi there guys.

I've just bought some new stirrup leathers...which are too short to ground-mount from, so I've got to start at the mounting block...which would be great, on any horse apart from mine.
He's terrified of the mounting block, or at the very least acts terrified of it.

I bought him like this and he was very nervous around it, running backwards, spinning, etc. And even now, if he thinks I'm going to be on the block, he's not going anywhere but backwards.

Now, please understand, I don't want to do this on my own but I have too. I have no choice, no-one on my yard will help me without either being paid or they're too busy, or they don't know how.
I really need to sort this issue.

We have both a flat and jumping school, each with mounting blocks, so I'm not sure which would be easiest to use but yeah...how would you guys tackle this?

He's a 16.2hh, 15yo Warmblood type gelding, so he's not something you can just hold when it runs backwards.
He's no malicious, not an ear pin in sight, but I can't tell off the bat if he is actually scared, or he's just been allowed to get away with this behviour for so long, it's habit.
I've had him just coming up 9 months now as well, and he's a reliable ground mounter, even when fresh. Just need to crack this.
 

Illusion100

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Clicker training and pressure/release.

Reward him for even looking at the mounting block and a step towards it. Make the mounting block a safe and happy place to be.

Put a lunge line on when training him to the mounting block so you have leeway if he reverses.

Good luck, you both can crack this. :)
 

khalino

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This is the weird thing, he will walk round one, stand by one, eat by one, tacked or naked, but the second a human gets on that block, it's a reverse as hard as you can.
You can move one around him, do anything with it, just the second you get on, everything goes pear shaped and sideways.

Okay, I'll give everything that's been suggested a good go. I have all the time in the world for him.
 

Cinnamontoast

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I used a chair that I borrowed from school when I first got my horse. He had no clue about the block, would not stand, kept moving backwards etc. I yanked my Achilles boosting onto a 16.3hh TB before him, so needed him to be perfectly still next to the block my OH eventually made to match his stirrup height. It took ages and lots of polos, but we got there! Patience and persistence!
 

teapot

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What's he like if you do it in stages, ie stand on first step, give him a pat all over, the second step etc?

Something we have to introduce with any new RDA horse is having people stood at heights they may not have encountered before, especially if the humans are tall. You'd be surprised at the number who take a while to get used to a human being that much higher than them. Just a thought :smile3:
 

Dry Rot

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What's he like if you do it in stages, ie stand on first step, give him a pat all over, the second step etc?

Something we have to introduce with any new RDA horse is having people stood at heights they may not have encountered before, especially if the humans are tall. You'd be surprised at the number who take a while to get used to a human being that much higher than them. Just a thought :smile3:

This ^^^^^.

We usually do a quite bit with an old coat on a long stick with youngsters. Just repeat, repeat, repeat...especially with a bowl of hard feed on offer. Maybe Highlands are special, as they live to eat?:) If they want the feed, they must tolerate the coat -- being near them, rubbed up against them, held above them, dragged over their bums, etc. a little more each day until they ignore it completely.

Also, tedious though it is, keep going to mount and especially work on that instant moment the horse starts to move away. We had one here that would swing sideways every time someone started to mount, but we did have two people to wrk on the problem. Every time the horse swug his back end away, he was backed up and put back in the correct position, then another try at mounting. We also found a loud shout at the exact moment he moved helped. We must have done this 100 times before the penny dropped that it was easier to stand still to be mounted!
 

Cowpony

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I have this problem with mine, owned her over 4 years and she's always done it. With hindsight I should have asked to get on from the block when I tried her, rather than be given a leg up ;) But hey ho, I'd probably still have bought her!

I am lucky that I do have people around to help, but I have spent hours and hours trying to crack it. We get to the point where she will let me get on, finish on a good note, then we're back to square one the next day. And she is a quick learner so I don't think it's that she doesn't understand.... Our mounting block is blue, we went to a competition on another yard where theirs was pink and OMG, you'd think I'd asked her to stand next to a sabre toothed tiger!

I've come to the conclusion that her saddle is uncomfortable for her, so I have a fitter coming out at the weekend to try a different shaped tree. If that doesn't sort the mounting issue after a month or two I think I just have to accept I'll always need somebody to help me mount.....:(
 

luckyoldme

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i allways had a problem with my lad. as soon as i got on the mounting block he just walked off.
I got bored of it one day and just stood quietly on top of the block, holding the reins in one hand and touched him lightly on the bum with the crop. I kept him walking just quietly round and round the block, no shouting just clicking him on . I positioned him again , and again he walked off, so again i kept him walking, no fuss , just kept him quietly walking round the block. On the third attempt he stood quietly as i mounted and it was sorted. Much to my surprise he stands perfectly every time now. I have to say my horse will get away with what he can, it just became too much hard work for him to move off!
 

Red-1

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As this horse seems to have reversing as his "get out" I would have a fairly small step, and practice leading near it until he is happy, walk past it and kick it to make a noise, until he is happy, walk in a straight line on and off it, until he is happy, then step on and off, but with a little pause, until he is happy, and then make the pause longer, until you can get on the small step and scratch etc, but then step straight off and walk on again....

Eventually the block is a non event, the pause can get longer, you can lean on him, pat his backside, gather the reins, all one step at a time, much repetition, and teaching him that the way out of the scary situation is to pause a while, as you will then be moving off again.

TBH, I know you don't want to pay for help, but as this is a long term issue you would probably find that with a talented trainer it could be cracked in one session, with back up work that you would be prepared to do. It may well seem cheap!
 

Micropony

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TBH, I know you don't want to pay for help, but as this is a long term issue you would probably find that with a talented trainer it could be cracked in one session, with back up work that you would be prepared to do. It may well seem cheap!

This is where I would be, too, having seen a couple of people sustain spinal injuries in mounting accidents. Freak accidents, sure, but it can happen. If you can't get someone to hold the horse for you, and it's an older horse with an established issue, maybe it's worth the investment?
 

NiceNeverNaughty

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i was at a demo/clinic recently where this was discussed and the trainer used a portable block with a short rope attached to it. She made sure that the horse was being held on a loose rein with no tension and whenever it moved away the block just followed. They did state that the demo horse was known not to be scared of it. It worked surprisingly well.
 

FfionWinnie

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I would tie him up and stand on it in the vicinity of him without trying to mount and desensitise that way.

You might have to start quite far away and you also might need to teach him to tie up. If he is just going to break away you are wasting your time. Really there's a lot to teach this horse because he doesn't respect the bridle or you or pressure and release (as he runs backwards and you can't stop him). I would get one of Richard Maxwell's books and cover all the steps in it, this would then mean you could deal with this issue in a calm and safe way, by yourself no problem.

I suggest tying him up because he already knows he can evade it by running away from you. Every time he does this, it reinforces the wrong behaviour around a mounting block.

I have a horse who came with a serious mounting issue. She had been vaulted on in a dealers, ill fitting tack and so on, terrified previous owners, no one had tackled it and had found ways round it. The upshot was she would rear if you mounted and didn't move off straight away and she also wouldn't stand still if she thought you were getting on. I tackled all her issues (many) from the ground over many weeks and when I got on her it was after a lot of work desensitising her and training her to stand at the block etc. She is now and has been since about a month after I got her, rock solid to mount and will stand until I tell her to move off.

Had I just tried to tackle the mounting issue I wouldn't have had this success. Horses need to learn the whole thing and ultimately this gives you a horse who when faced with a new situation will no longer panic.

In the short term mount from a slope ie put him down a hill from you.
 

fiwen30

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I'd suggest the help of a professional or experienced person tbh, even if that means shelling out a bit. It sounds like pressure and release-type work will be needed for him, and it's very easy to miss the split second that it's needed!

I wonder if it's the block in particular? You say he's fine around the thing, but doesn't like you climbing on it - does he have the same reaction to you climbing on other things? Could you stand on buckets in the yard in his eyesight, but at a distance, while he is stabled or tied? Does he react the same if you stand on a tack box to groom him?
 

AnShanDan

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I came across this video the other week, it is of Richard Maxwell working with an arab mare that is scared of the mounting block and this is impacting on her showing career. The method makes a lot of sense.

There are actually 3 parts to the vid. but this is the first one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0CWHDhvpd4

I've been trying the same method with my young mare for loading and it has been a real success, she has gone from having a paddy about it to walking in calmly every time.
 
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